One third of people across the world suffered from at least five ailments during 2013, according to a major new study published yesterday.
And 95% of people reported some kind of ill health, researchers say.
Analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2013, published in The Lancet, showed that the proportion of lost years of healthy life (disability-adjusted life years – DALYS) due to illness increased from 21% in 1990 to 31% in 2013.
Only one in 20 people worldwide had no health problems at all throughout the year.
Professor Theo Vos, lead author and professor of Global Health at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, USA, warned that as the world’s population grows and the number of elderly people rises, the numbers of people living with health problems will soar.
The study is the largest and most detailed analysis to quantify levels, patterns, and trends in ill health and disability around the world between 1990 and 2013.
It revealed that in the past 23 years, the leading causes of health loss have hardly changed, with lower back pain, depression, iron-deficiency anaemia, neck pain, and age-related hearing loss resulting in the largest overall health loss worldwide in both 1990 and 2013.
Rates of disability are declining much more slowly than death rates – while diabetes cases have risen by about 43% over the past 23 years, death rates from the condition have increased by only 9%.
“The fact that mortality is declining faster than non-fatal disease and injury prevalence is further evidence of the importance of paying attention to the rising health loss from these leading causes of disability, and not simply focusing on reducing mortality,” said he said.
The GBD 2013 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators analysed 35 620 sources of information on disease and injury from 188 countries between 1990 and 2013 to discover the prevalence of disabling disorders and the overall burden on health systems from 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries, as well as 2,337 health consequences that result from one or more of these disorders.
The team found that lower back pain and major depression were among the top ten greatest contributors to disability in every country, causing more health loss than diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma combined.
Worldwide, the number of people with a number of illnesses rose both with age and in absolute terms between 1990 and 2013.
In 2013, 36% of children aged up to four years in developed countries had no disorder compared with just 0.03% of adults aged 80 and over. The number of individuals with more than ten disorders rose by 52% between 1990 and 2013.
Eight causes of chronic disorders affected more than 10% of the world population in 2013: cavities in permanent teeth (2.4 billion), tension-type headaches (1.6 billion), iron-deficiency anaemia (1.2 billion), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency trait (1.18 billion), age-related hearing loss (1.23 billion), genital herpes (1.12 billion), migraine (850 million), and ascariasis (giant intestinal roundworm – 800 million).
The researchers also discovered a 136% rise in health loss associated with diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease (92% increase), medication overuse headache (120% increase), and osteoarthritis (75% increase).
“Large, preventable causes of health loss, particularly serious musculoskeletal disorders and mental and behavioural disorders, have not received the attention that they deserve,” said Prof Vos.
“Addressing these issues will require a shift in health priorities around the world, not just to keep people alive into old age, but also to keep them healthy.”
Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 Lancet 8 June 2015 [abstract]
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